1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates generally to modular furniture systems of the type which can be manufactured in the form of knock-down panels in order to provide ease of assembly and which can be easily reconfigured to meet a variety of needs.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
A large variety of ready-to-assemble furniture systems are commercially available at the present time. While such systems do feature ease of assembly, they have often not exhibited the appearance of factory-assembled furniture. For example, certain of the prior art ready-to-assemble systems have exhibited the tendency to loosen up or come apart after extended use. Such systems have included, for example, wood-based office furniture such as desks, credenzas, book cases, lateral files, computer stands, and the like. While such systems offered ease of assembly, they were not necessarily directed toward facilitating the reconfiguration of component parts of a modular furniture system. There are a number of reasons why an easily reconfigurable system would offer advantages not presently available in today's commercial furniture market.
Especially in the office furniture market, a manufacturer must offer a variety of available choices in the components of the furniture system. Depending upon the office layout, a workstation may require various configurations. For example, a workstation may be comprised of only a desk or it may be a desk with a return, or a desk with a top unit stacked on the desk. Whatever the desired configuration, the manufacturer and dealer are faced with the problem of offering a wide variety of styles as well as a wide selection of configurations within each style.
Stocking a wide variety of workstation styles and configurations poses many problems. One problem is the storage space required in the showroom or warehouse. Also, manufacturing a variety of custom configurations is very expensive.
Various attempts have been made in the prior art to remedy the above noted deficiencies. However, the prior art modular furniture systems have tended to be overly complex in construction. One attempt to simplify such constructions is to provide the modular system in the form of knock-down panels. In such systems, the unit is marketed in an unassembled condition with the final assembly being made by either the dealer or the end user. Knock-down units are more compact in storage, allowing for storage of more than one unit in the space that a conventional fully assembled unit would occupy. However, because the prior systems have not generally featured any method for interchanging the components of the system such as returns, stackable units and the like, such systems have not provided the number of configurations required by today's office furniture market. The prior art constructions have not generally provided the extent of modularity from which a large number of workstation configurations can be provided by using a relatively small number of basic components.
An object of the present invention is to provide a modular furniture system featuring new and improved workstations which are easily reconfigured.
Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved modular components which allow the assembly of a relatively large number of different workstation configurations from a relatively few different configurations of modular components.
Another object of the invention is to provide a plurality of workstation configurations from a relatively small number of basic modular components which are fabricated for shipment in knock-down condition and which are fabricated for assembly in the field with relative ease.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved modular furniture system for assembling a basic workstation in the form of a desk in which additional components can be added to the basic desk workstation to provide other configurations of workstations as the end user's requirements may demand.
Another object of the invention is to increase the flexibility to change configurations without marring the attractiveness of the components of the system by providing a connection means for the panel components which does not require boring holes in the end surfaces of the panels.
Another object of the invention is to provide an edge cap for the system components which allows edges of the system components to fit together against flat edged surfaces, radiussed edged surfaces and other custom designed surfaces.
Another object of the invention is to provide improved wire management capabilities within a modular furniture system by allowing access to wall outlets while keeping the components of the system positioned against a wall, thereby concealing all wires and cables.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved means for allowing the inlet of wire and cable to the inside of a modular component of the system when the component is fully assembled.
Another object of the invention is to increase the modularity of the system by providing means for attaching an end panel of a component module to the end of any top, either on the right or left-hand side thereof.